Takeaways from Warriors' Win Over Kings: Yaxel's Go-To Move Could Break Defenses

Yaxel Lendeborg shined with 23 points in 24 minutes as the Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings 111-106 in Saturday's preseason game. Lendeborg was once again the story, but it wasn't a great team performance from the Dubs. A common issue reared its ugly head again. Below, I go over that issue, Lendeborg's performance and more in Saturday's takeaways. Lendeborg's Bully-Ball Drives Give Him More Scoring Potential Than Even He Might Realize Lendeborg went 10-of-14 with nine field goals in the paint and one three-pointer. A handful of those buckets came off cuts and putbacks, but the last four were drives in which he used his size and physicality to create space. The first was arguably the most impressive: Yaxel last four field goals made were all bully-ball drives. Here's the first: pic.twitter.com/W6rvjIUC9h — Joey Akeley (@Jakeley_OnSI) October 11, 2026 Stephen Curry threw the ball to Lendeborg above the three-point line with Zach LaVine having no reason to think his relaxed defensive stance could be exploited. By the time Lendeborg caught the ball, it was already over. Look at where LaVine is when the ball goes through the net. That shows that Lendeborg knows how to use his body. The second layup was more finesse, but effective nonetheless: Yaxel's next drive (great decel that LaVine wanted no part of): pic.twitter.com/ZFw8acVBO6 — Joey Akeley (@Jakeley_OnSI) October 11, 2026 On the third, Lendeborg once again used his body to create tons of space for an easy float shot: Yaxel's third drive (dropping the shoulder to get separation): pic.twitter.com/Yn233wkiiP — Joey Akeley (@Jakeley_OnSI) October 11, 2026 The last drive was came against a defender who was in perfect position. But again, Lendeborg used his size and ability to finish through contact, this time getting an And-1: Yaxel's last drive (great dribble combo to get downhill and then never let Achiuwa recover): pic.twitter.com/RUieYiqG96 — Joey Akeley (@Jakeley_OnSI) October 11, 2026 The Kings don't have great defensive personnel. But still, these are NBA-level athletes that Lendeborg is essentially abusing. When Lendeborg said he wanted to average 15 points at minimum , I thought that was a lofty goal. Now it feels very attainable. At 6'9" and 241 pounds, he should be able to use his bully-ball move consistently, especially when attacking switches and mismatches. Turnovers Continue to Be Major Problem The Warriors finished with 21 turnovers, which is way too many. But some of that is to be expected during preseason when teams are playing lineups that won't appear in the regular season. So let's focus solely on the turnovers they had early in the game. The first was a Gui Santos blind pass to Draymond Green that got intercepted by LaVine. I'm not gonna harp on this one because it was a great defensive play, but for the sake of thoroughness I wanted to mention it. The next possession, Green tried a one-handed cross-court pass to Podz that he caught out of bounds. Santos traveled a minute later, and then came the worst turnover of the first quarter. Green had the ball above the three-point line and tried to fit a pass to a cutting Gary Payton II that got picked off. In all, the Warriors had four turnovers in the first five minutes. That's a major issue for a team without any margin for error. Niang Breaks Out of Mini Slump One of the players I was focused on going into Saturday was Georges Niang. The 33-year-old had made just four of his 14 shots and one of his six three-point attempts in his first two Warriors preseason games. Niang broke out with 13 points on six shots (3-of-4 from three). The play that was the most encouraging came midway through the second quarter. Curry dribbled left and threw a one-handed lefty pass to Niang on the opposite wing because he saw De'Andre Hunter drop into the paint for help momentarily. Niang didn't have that much space but he shot it instantly anyway, and it went in. Having another 40 percent-plus shooter on the court will do wonders for Curry and this offense. Add us as a preferred source on Google Follow